


Mamihlapinatapei

by WhisperingSkies



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Ballroom Dancing, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Everyone is an avenger, Infinity War never happened, Iron Dad, Loki (Marvel) is a Good Bro, M/M, Not Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 (Movie) Compliant, Peter is a Little Shit, Post-Captain America: Civil War (Movie), Precious Peter Parker, Stephen is bad at humans, Tony Stark Has A Heart, Weddings, magic dad, spider son, stephen strange centric, we ignore infinity war in this household
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-06-14
Updated: 2018-06-13
Packaged: 2019-05-23 03:40:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,278
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14926430
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WhisperingSkies/pseuds/WhisperingSkies
Summary: Stephen Strange would rather not do anything to help out Tony Stark, but when the billionaire asks him to watch his almost-son Peter for a week, Stephen is suddenly forced to have contact with the man outside of team meetings. Against all odds, he starts to find himself thinking maybe, just maybe, Stark isn't as awful as he thought...





	Mamihlapinatapei

Doctor Stephen Strange did not consider himself a man of many words; quite the opposite, rather. There was no need, in his eyes, for long swathes of speech, which in turn wasted his breath (something he believed to be finite), and did not capture the meaning of his message quite as eloquently as he could have with far fewer vowels- no sir, he would much rather use words like pusillanimous and exacerbate to keep his conversations ephemeral and relevant. 

That was, of course, until a slightly obnoxious twist in fate introduced him to a group of superheroes- "The Avengers," as they were called. Now, having been a doctor, Strange was instantly captivated by each of their stories; how they'd gained their powers without study, what caused them each to be so lucky, and most importantly- what they could teach him. Of course aware of his own minuscule power in the vast comparison of the universe, Strange vowed to learn as much as he could from these heroes, in order to better his craft. 

What he didn't expect, however, was coming to enjoy speaking with a few of them. He began purposely using simpler terms, if only to extend their exchanges by a few moments; he marveled at himself one evening after having spoken with the Parker boy for nearly an hour as they dined together at 'The Compound,' which held a great position of power in Peter's vocabulary. He spoke of everything regarding his teammates as though he couldn't fathom the idea of being on par with them- a mindset Strange quickly pointed out, thinking it unfair the boy would view himself in such a way. A conversation between the god Thor and himself had lasted nearly as long a few nights thereafter, as the two swapped stories of interdimensional travel and compared the beauty of faraway planets. 

Although, there was one Avenger that Stephen found himself unable to relate to, despite their sea of surface-deep similarities- the illustrious genius Tony Stark.   
Tony Stark, with an ego that challenged the likes of any headstrong villain Stephen had ever encountered. Tony Stark, with his selfishly ignorant (but rather brilliant) mind. Tony Stark, who Stephen inexplicably knew much more about than he recalled ever wishing to... 

The unmistakable sound of knuckles against wood echoed loudly through the room. Jesus, was he trying to beat down the door? 

"Hey, Dumbledore. Open up." 

Strange sighed, having known who'd come calling long before the visitor had spoken.   
"Mr. Stark, by all means, please." 

He regretted allowing the Avengers free entry into the Stronghold. 

With a half-hearted wave of his hand, the door swung open; Tony froze mid-knock for a moment before quickly recovering from the apparent dissatisfaction in Stephen's tone, striding across the room to where the sorcerer sat. 

Truth be told, there were not enough small words in the galaxy to end this conversation quickly enough. Strange made no moves to acknowledge his company, simply continuing to leaf through one of the many books stacked on his cramped, well-worn desk. 

Tony, who should have been used to this by now, cleared his throat. Stephen shut his eyes slowly, bringing one hand up to rest on his forehead as if he could feel a migraine coming on (which he could).

"May I assist you?" He tried to channel as much boredom into the question as he could. 

Of course, Tony didn't pay his obvious displeasure any attention, simply moving aside one stack of books so he could perch on the edge of Strange's desk, ignoring the glare Strange shot his way. They were far too close for Stephen's comfort now, with Tony's legs in his personal space as the engineer tried to maintain his pose on the desk. 

"Stark, get down." 

Tony rolled his eyes. "So, Doc. Can you do me a tiny favor?" 

"No," Stephen groaned. "I will not allow you use my portals to retrieve your lunch any longer." He turned back to his book, hoping if he ignored Tony, he would go away.

"Wasn't what I was going to ask, but noted." Tapping the side of his head with a grin, Tony hopped off the desk. Before the wizard knew what was happening, Stark had pulled his chair away from the desk and spun Stephen to face him; Stephen could feel the annoyance starting to show on his face. The feeling increased tenfold as he became aware of their angles- conveniently, Tony had placed himself in the position of power, forcing Strange to have to look up to speak to him. 'Absolutely not,' Stephen thought, standing with a force that nearly knocked over the chair. His cloak swished approvingly from it's hook on the wall. 

Tony, however, seemed frustratingly apathetic to what had just happened, simply shrugging and continuing on, now eye-level with Strange. "Listen, this is serious. Can you please let Peter stay with you next week?"

Stephen softened instantly at the request. He had grown to care very much for Peter; on the other hand, he didn't owe Stark any favors. "Why does he need to stay here," Stephen pressed. "Why not at your Compound? Or his own home? The boy is nearly seventeen, Anthony." 

Ignoring the utterance of his full name, Tony sighed. "Aunt May is out west visiting some relative for a while, and I'm in charge of the kid. I'm leaving town for a week. Steve and his crew are down in Wakanda, Wanda and Vision are MIA again, I can't trust Thor to not offer him alcohol or do some crazy god stuff... trust me, I've tried to think of another option. I considered Loki before you, Strange." 

Taking a deep breath, Stephen turned towards his desk, rummaging about for a moment before he found his planner. It was mostly empty, aside from weekly lunch meetings with Wong, but Tony didn't need to know that. He pretended to peruse the pages, mentally going over how he could continue his magic studies with the kid at the Sanctum. Finding no problems, he snapped the planner closed with a satisfying click. Tony's eyes were on him as he turned back around.   
"I suppose," Stephen sighed, "I can provide for young Mr. Parker next week..." 

Stark grinned at him. "Great, I'll swing him by Monday mor-" 

"Ah-" The sorcerer suppressed a smile at Tony's surprise, having been interrupted. "On the condition you disclose to me the whereabouts and purpose of this excursion, only then will I allow Peter's presence in my Sanctum for an elongated period." 

If looks could wound, Strange would be severely poisoned after the face Tony made. The energy of the room tilted so quickly that Stephen lost focus for a few moments, noting Stark was speaking, but not hearing a thing. 

"...... in France, alright? Colmar, to be exact. It's my responsibility to check it out. Weird, for a small town..." Gone was the playful spirit in Tony's voice, replaced instead with something much darker. Stephen didn't wish to pry, and pretended he understood; after all, he'd only asked to see how open the engineer would be with him. 

"Yes, I will care for Peter when you are gone," he said softly. 

The flow of energy in the room calmed, and Tony nodded distractedly as he turned to leave. "Thanks."   
And then he was gone. 

Sinking back into his chair, Strange let the tension dissolve from his posture; why did he always have to act so superior? He was excited to spend the week with Peter; he shouldn't have presented as otherwise. 

'Because you don't wish to be vulnerable,' hissed a voice in his head. Stephen scoffed aloud and picked his book up again.


End file.
